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No. 47. 



THE WICKED WORLD. 



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THE WICKED WORLD. 



AN ORIGINAL FAIRY COMEDY, 



In (Jl)rec ^ttB, 



hip.^ w y s : g i l b e r t , 

AUTHOR OF "CHABITY," "PYGMALION AND GALATEA," "THE PRINCESS, 
"THE PALACE OF TRUTH," "TRIAL BY JURY," &C., &C. 




COHRECTLY PRINTED FR03I THE PROMPTERS COPY, WITH THE CAST OF 
CHARACTERS, COSTUME, SIDES OF ENTRANCE AND EXIT, RELA- 
TIVE POSITIONS OP THE DRAMATIS PERSONS, SCENE 
AND PROPERTY PLOTS, DIAGRAMS OF SETS, 
TIME OF REPRESENTATION, ETC. 



NEW YORK: 

HAPPY HOURS COMPANY, 

No. 1 CHAMBERS STREET. 

r 






THE WICKED WORLD. 



CAST OF CHAEACTEES. 

Hayviarket Theatre, London. 
Fairies'. 

Ethais .............I Mr. Kendal. 

Phyllon •• Arnott. 

LuTiN, (A Serving; Fairy.) " Euckstone. 

Selene, (A Fairy Queeti.) Miss Madge Robertson. 

Darine " Amy Roselle. 

Zayda " M. Litton. 

Leila " Harrison. 

Neodie " Henri. 

Locrine , , , " Francis. 

Mortals. 

Sir Ethais Mr. Kendal. 

Sir Ph YLI.ON " Arnott. 

Lutin, (Sir Ethais' Henchman.) " Euckstone. 



Scene. — In Fairy Land. 



*;(.* The action is comprised ivlthii: the sj>ace of twenty -/our hours. 



COSTUMES. 



Fairief 



Ethais. — White Roman toga, trimmed with yellow and silver. 
Phyllon. — Roman toga, light brown and gold. 
Lutin. — Roman toga, grotesque. 

Selene. — Long white cashmere robe, embroidered with silver, drawn in at waist 
with silver cord and tassels ; jewelled crown. 

QiFT 

EST. OF J. H. CORNING 
JUNE 20. 1940 



THB WICKED WOBl-B. 



Ill 



DARmE.-Salmon colored cashmere robe, embroidered with gold, with peplon of 

same material. , , • , • -.i. i 

Zayda.— Pale green cashmere robe, embroiderea with silver. 
Leila.— Blue cashmere robe, embroidered with silver. 
Neodie.— Pink cashmere robe, embroidered with silver. 
LoCKlNE.— Yellow cashmere robe, embroidered with silver. 

Mortals. 

Sir Ethais.— Light blue short Roman shirt; lambrequins; sandals; silver helmet 
and breastplate, with tiger's skin on shoulders. 

Sir Phvllon.— Same as Sir Ethais; colors, scarlet and gold. 
LuTiN.— Same style of costume made grotesque. 

*.. * All the female costumes should be made of light and bright materials. 



PROPEETIES. 

Flowers of all descriptions for the profuse decoration of a ^;^''^y ?,^;/""4„^°^^3 
bank or couch i. Decorated bower or arbor of roses, &c.. L. ihree iLvergrcens 
with gilded fiuitu. Birds of Paradise, &c. Garlands of flowers, &c. /hreerose 
bushe?L., with roses affixed to pluck. Scarf for Ethais. Signet ring fj^r Selene. 
Mantle to cover Ethais. Two small phials for Lutin. 
Phyllon. 



Swords for Ethais and 




/ 



IV 



THE WICKED WORLD. 



A Set Scene — Fairy Land. Sunrise. A beautiful, but fanciful perspective 
landscape backing painted on the cloth. Working gauze and opaque clouds suspend- 
ed with copper wire, and arranged so that they can be gently swayed to and fro. 
Mediaeval city k., a small portion built, the rest painted with a distant river mean- 
dering its silver stream throughout. A set rock, c, with Fairy flowers and fruit 
overhanging its edges. Cut open behind between the rock and clouds, with steps to 
mount by from the cellar. Fairy trees R. and L,, in front of C. rock piece. Set 
Fairy bower l. 

Act it. — Same as Act I. Sunset. 

Act III. — Same as Acts 1. and U. Moonlight. 



EXPLANATION OF THE STAGE DIRECTIONS. 



L., means first entrance left. R., first entrance right. S.E.L., second entrance 
left. S.E.R., second entrance right. U.E.L., upper entrance left. U.E.R., upper 
entrance right. T.E.L., third entrance left. T.E.R., third entrance right. C, 
centre. L.C., left of centre. R.C., right of centre. C.L., centre towards left. 
C.R., centre towards right. D.F., door in flat. L.F., left of flat. R.F., right of 
flat. Observing you are supposed to face the audience. 



PEOLOGUE. 



The Author begs you'll kind attention pay 

"Wliile I explain the object of bis pla3^ 

You have been taught, no doubt, by those professing 

To understand the thing, that Love's a blessing ; 

AVell, he intends to teach you the reverse — 

That Love is not a blessing, but a curse ! 

But pray do not suppose it's his intent 

To do without this vital element — 

His drama would be in a pretty mess ! 

With quite as fair a prospect of success, 

Might a dispensing chemist in his den 

Endeavor to dispense with oxygen. 

Too powerful an agent to pooh-pooh, 

There will be Love enough I ^'arrant you : 

But as the aim of every play's to show 

That Love's essential to all men below, 

lie uses it to prove, to all who doubt it, 

How well all men — but he — can do without it. 

To prove his case (a poor one, I admit), 

He begs that with him you will kindly flit 



6 PEOLOGUE. 

To a pure fair^'-land that's all is owu, 
"Where mortal love is utterl}' riukuowu. 
"Whose beings, spotless as new-fallen snow, 
Know nothing of the Wicked World below. 
These gentle sons and daughters of the air. 
Safe, in their eyrie, from temptation's snare, 
Have yet one little fault I must confess — 
An overweening sense of rigldeonsness. 
As perfect silence, undisturbed for years. 
Will breed at length a humming in the ears. 
So from their very purity within 
Arise the promjDtings of their only sin. 
Forgive them ! No? Perhaps you will relent, 
When you appreciate their punishment ! 

But prithee be not led too far away. 

By the hack author ^f a mere stage-play : 

It's easy to affect this cynic tone. 

But, let me ask you, had the world ne'er known 

Such Love as you, and I, and he, must mean — 

Prav where would vou, or I, or he, have been ? 



THE WICKED WORLD. 



ACT I. 

Scene.— i^(,< ('?•?/ Land. Sioirlse. A heaidiful, hut fanciful perspective 
landscape, u.e.e., ivldch is supposed to lie on the upper side of a cloud. 
The cloud L, is" suspended over the earth R. c. , a portion of which (repre- 
senting "a bird's-eye vieio" qf a medioeval city ), is seen, far below, 
through a re)d or gap in the clouds. Fairy bower s.e.l. Fairy seat c. 
Bose bushes, shrubs, flowers, garlands, &c. 

As the curtain rises Zatda is discovered standing in a thoughtful atti- 
tude, looking k., contemplating tlie world at her feel. 

Enter Daeine, l. 

Dar. ( Gohuj to ZkXDk, touching her on the shoulder.) My sister, 
Zayda, thou art deep in thought, 
What quaint conjecture fills thy busy brain ? ( They come down, 

Zay. (R.) Oh ! sister, it's my old and favorite theme — 
That'wondeiful and very wicked world 
That rolls in silent cycles at our feet I 

Dar. (Ti.) In truth a fruitful source of wonderment ! 

Zay. Fruitful indeed — a harvest without end ! 
The world — the wiclred world ! the wondrous v^'orld ! 
I love to sit alone and gaze on it, 
And let my fancy wander through its towns, 
Float on its seas and rivers— interchange 



8 THE "WICKED WOULD. 

Communion with its strange inhabitants : 

People its cities with fantastic shapes, 

Fierce, wild, barbaric forms — all head and tail, 

"With monstrous horns, and blear end bloodshot eyes, 

As all should have who deal in wickedness ! 

Elder Phyllon, k. 

Oh, Pbyllon ! picture to thyself a town 
Peopled with men and women ! At each turn, 
Men — wicked men — then, farther on, more men, 
Then women— then again more men— more men — 
Men, women, everywhere— all ripe for crime. 
All ghastly iu the lurid light of sin ! 

Miter Selene, e., through hack openbuf in clouds ; she remains behind 
contemplating the characters. 

Fhyl. In truth, dear sister, if man's face and form 
Were a true index to his character, 
He were a hideous thing to look upon ; 
Bat man, alas ! is formed as we are formed. 
False from the first, he comes into the world 
Bearing a smiling lie upon his face, 
That he may cheat ere he can use his tongue. 

Zay. Oh ! I have heard these things, but heed them not. 
I like to picture him as he should be, 
Unsightly and unclean. I like to pair 
Misshapen bodies with misshapen minds. 

Sel. (Advancing c.) Dost thou not know that every soul on earth 
Hath in our ranks his outward countei-part ? 

Dar. His outward counterpart ! 

Sel. ( Pointing to the city, v.. ) 'Tis even so 
Yes, ou that world— that very wicked world — 
Thou— I— and all who dwell in fairy-land, 

]\Iay find a parallel identity : * 

A perfect counterpart in outward form ; 
So perfect that, if it were possible 
To place us b}' these earthly counterparts. 
No man on earth, no fairy in the clouds. 
Could tell which was the fairy— which the man ! 

Ziy. (R.c.) Is there ?io shade of difference ? 

Fhyl. (K.) Yes, one; 

For we are absolutely free from sin, 
^Vhile all our representatives on earth 
Are stained with every kind of infamy. 

Dar. Are all our counterparts so steeped in sin ? 

Fhyl. All, in a greater or a less degree. 



THE WICKED WORLD. 9 

Zraj. What, eveu mine ? 

Fhyl. Alas ! 

Zay. Oh, uo — not mine ! 

PJiyl. All men and women sin. 

Dar. (L. , to Selene. ) I ^Yonder what 

My counterpart is doiug now ? 

Sel. ( Warningly. ) Don't ask. 

No doubt, some fearful sin ! 

Da?'. And what are sins ? 

Sel. Evils of which we hardly know the names, 
There's vanity — a quaint, fantastic vice, 
AVhereby a mortal takes much credit for 
The beauty of his face and form, and claims 
As much applause for loveliness as though 
He had designed himself ! (All laugh. ) Then jealousy — 
A universal passion— one that claims 
An absolute monopoly of love. 
Based on the reasonable principle 
That no one merits other people's love 
So much as— every soul on earth by turns ! 
Envj' — that grieves at other men's success. 
As though success, however placed, were not 

A contribution to one common fund ! (All approve ly action. 

Ambition, too, the vice of clever men 
Who seek to rise at others cost ; nor heed 
Whose wings they cripple, so that they may soar. 
Malice — the helpless vice of helpless fools. 
Who, as they cannot rise, hold others dowu, 
That they, by contrast, may appear to soar. 
Hatred and avarice, untruthfulness, 
Murder and rapine, theft, profanity — ■ 
Sins so incredible, so mean, so vast, 
Our nature stands appalled when it attempts 

To grasp their terrible significance. All applaud. 

Such are the vices of that wicked world ! ( Cross io l.c. ; hacJc to c. 

(Zayda loith Dabine gets l. 

Enter Ethais, Locmne, Neodie, Leila, and other Fairies, from b«, 
through cloud opening. 

Elh. My brothers, sisters, Lutin has returned. 
After a long delay, from yonder earth ; 
The first of all our race Avho has set foot 
Upon that wicked world. See ! he is here ! 

.Enier Lutin, e. 

Sel. (L.C.) Good welcome, Lutin, back to fairy-land ! 
So thou hast been to earth? 
Lut, (r.c.) I have indeed! 



10 THK WICKED WOELD. 

Set What hast thou seen there ? 

Lnl. Better not iuqaire. 
It is a very, very wicked world ! 
I went, obedient to our King's command. 
To meet him in mid-earth. He bade me go 
And send both Ethais and Phyllon there. 

Mh. (c.) Down to mid-earth? 

Zut. Down to mid-earth at once 

He hath some gift, some priceless privilege 
With which he would endow our fairy world ; 
And he hath chosen Phyllon and thj-self 
To bear his bounty to this home of ours. 

Zay. (L.) Another boon? Whj', brother Ethais, 
What can our monarch give that we have not? 

Mh. In truth, I cannot sa}'- — 'twould seem that we 
Had reached the sum of fairy happiness ! 

ISel. Bat then we thought the same, before our King 
Endowed us with the gift of melody ; 
And now, how tame our fairy life would seem 
Were melody to perish from our land ! 

Phyl. Well said, Selene. ( Cross to c. j Come, then, let's away, 
(Linkhif} his arm xo'iih Ethais and going up e.g. 
And on our journey through the outer world 
We will take note of its inhabitants, 
And bring you fair account of all we see. 
Farewell, dear sisters ! 

(Exeunt Phyllon and Ethais, b., through clouds. 

Sel Brothers, fare-yoii-well. 

( To LuTiN. j And thou hast really met a living man? 

Ltd. (R.c.) I have indeed — and living women too ! 

Z'ty. (L.) And thou hast heard them speak, and seen their ways, 
And didst thou understand them when they spake? 



•^^rri>'. Selene. Daiji.v^ 



^%. 



V< <\ 



Lul. I understand that what I understood 
No fairj' being ought to understand. (Fairies crowd forward, O^i! 
I see that almost everything I saw 

Is utterly improper to be seen. (Fairies 0-h ! 

Don't ask for details — (all the fairies crowd anxiously around) — I've 
returned to you 



THE WICKED WORLD, 11 



AVith 'outraged senses and M'ith slir.ttered nerves, 

1 burn with blushes of iudiguimt shame, 

Read my experiences in my face, (Fairies stare at Idm. 

(lie iuriis auxiy. ) My tongue shall wither ere it tell the tale. 

( Sighs. ) It is a very, very M'icked world ! 

t>ar. But surely man can summon death at will ; 
Wliy should he live when he at will can die? 

iiixt. Why, that's the most inexplicable thing. 
I've seen upon that inconsistent globe — 
AVith swords and daggers hanging at their sides, 
"With drowning seas and rivers at their feet, 
With deadl}' poison in tbeir very grasp, 

And everj' implement of death at hand — • (Going up. 

Men live— and live — and seem to like to live ! 

(Disappears through opening at back. 

Bar. How strangely inconsistent ! 

Sel Not all all 

With all their misery, Mith all their siu, 
With all the elements of Avretcheduese 
Tiiat teem on that unholy world of theirs, 
They have one great and evei- glorious gift, 
That compensates for a 11 they Lave to bear — 
The gift of Love ! (Fairies astonished. ) Not as ?ce use the word, 
To signify mere tranquil brotherhood ; 
But in some sense that is unknown to us. 
Their love bears like relation to our own. 
That the fierce beauty of the noonday sun 
Bears to the calm of a soft summer's eve. 
It nerves the wearied mortal with hot life, 
And bathes his soul in hazy Lappiness. 
The richest man is i)oor who hath it not, 
And he who hath it laughs at poverty. 
It hath no conqueror. When death himself 
Has worked his very worst, this love of theirs 
Lives still upon the loved one's memory. 
It is a strange enchantment, which invests 
The most unlovely things with loveliness. 
The maiden, fascinated by this spell. 
Sees everything as she would have it be : 
Her squalid cot becomes a princely home ; 
Its stunted shrubs are groves of stateJy elms j 
'J.'he weedy brook that trickles past her door 
Is a broad river fringed with drooping trees ; 
And of all marvels the most marvelous, 
Tiie coarse Tin holy man who ruks her love 
Is a bright being— pure as we are pure ; 
Wise in his folly—blameless in his sin ; 



12 THE WJCKED WOKLD. 

The incarnatiou of a perfect soul ; . 

A great and ever glorious demi-god 

Bar. (Surprised.) Why, what hare Are iu all our fairy-land 
To bear comparison with such a gift? 

Zay. Oh ! for one hour of such a love as that ; 
O'er all things paramount ! Why, after all, 
That wicked world is the true fairy land ! 

Loc. Why, who can wonder that poor erring man 
Clings to the world, all poisoned though it be, 
When on it grows this glorious antidote ? 

Zay. ( To Selene. ) And may we never love as mortals love ? 

(Fairies look enquiringly. 

Sel. No ; that can never be. (All appear despondent.) Of earthly 
things 
This love of theirs ranks as the earthiest. 
'Tis necessary to man's mode of life ; 
He could not bear his load of misery 
But for the sweet enchantment at his heart 
That tells him that he bears nojoad at all. 
We do not need it in our perfect land. 
Moreover, there's this gulf 'twixt it and us : 
Only a mortal can inspire such love ; 
Ancf mortal foot can never touch our laud. 
* Zay. But— is that so? 

Set (Sarprised.) Of course. 

Zay. Yet I have heard 

That we've a half-forgotten law which says, 
That when a fairy quits his fairy home 
To visit earth, those whom he leaves behind 
Maj' summon from the wicked world below 
That absent fairy's mortal counterpart ; 
And that that mortal countei-part may stay 
In fairy-land and fill the fairy's place 
Till lie return. Is there not some such law ? 

Sel. And if there be, wouldst put that law in force ? (Horrified. 

Zay. No ; not for all the love of all the world ! Equally horrified. 

Sel. A man in fairy-land ! Most horrible ! (Fairies Ugh ! 

He would exhale the poison of his soul, 
And we should even be as mortals are, 
Hating as man hates ! 

l)ar. (Enthusiastically.) Loving as man loves ! 

(Selene looks reproachfxdly. 
Too horrible !— Still — (As if in thought. 

Sel. (Enquiringly. ) Well ! 

Bar. I see a trace 

Of Avisdom lurking in this ancient law. 

Sel. Where lurks this wisdom, then? J see it not. 

i)ar, ( With emphasis. ) Man is a shameless being, steeped iu sins 



HE WICKED WORLD. 13 

At which our stainless nacnre stands appalled ; 
Yet, sister, if we took this loathsome soul 
From 3'ouder seething gulf of infamy — 
E'en but for one short day — and let him see 
The beauty of our pure, unspotted lives, 
He might return to his unhappy world, 
And trumpet forth the strange intelligence : 
"Those men alone are happy who are good." 
Then Avould the world immediately repent. 
And sin and wickedness be known no more ! 

Loc. Association with so foul a thing 
As man must needs be unendurable 
To souls as pure and sinless as our own : 
Yet, sister dear, it has occurred to me, 
That his foul deeds, perchance, proceed from this — 
That we have kept ourselves too much aloof, 
And left him to his blind and waj'ward will. 

Zay. Man is everything detestable — 
Base in his nature, base in thought and deed, 
Loathsome beyond all things that creep and crawl ! 

(Fairies gesticukcie disapprovinghj. 
Still, sister, I must own I've sometimes thought 
That we who shape the fortunes of mankind, 
And grant such wishes as are free from harm. 
Might possibly fulfill our generous task 
With surer satisfation to himself 
Had we some notion wljat these wishes were ! 

iVeo. We give him everything but good advice, 
And that which most he needs do we withhold. 

Dar. Oh ! terrible, dear sister, to reflect, 
Tbat to our cold and culpable neglect. 
The folly of the world is chargeable ! 

Sel To our neglect? 

Zay. It may in trath be sr. 

Lei. In very truth I'm sure that it is so. 

Sel. Oh ! horrible ! It shall be so no more. 
A light breaks over me ! Their sin is ours I 
But there — 'tis easy still to make amends. 
A mortal shall behold our blameless state, 
And learn the beauties of a sinless life ! 
Come, let us summon mortal Ethais. 

Dar. But— 

/Sel. Not a word— I am resolved to this. 

Neo. But sister — 

Sel. Well? 

Neo. ( Tlmidlij. ) Why summon only one ? 

Sel Why summon more ? ' 

Neo. The world's incredulous ; 



14 THE WICKED WOELD. 



Let two be brought into our blameless lancl, 
Then should their wondrous story be received 
With ridicule or incredulity, 
One could corroborate the other. 

Dar. Yes — 

Phyllon has gone with Ethais. Let us call 
The inoi'tal counterpart of Phyllon too — 

Scl Two mortals— two unhappy men of sin 
In this untainted spot ! (All the Fairies 0-h! 

Leo. Well, sister dear, 

Two Heralds of the Truth will spread that Truth 
At the least twice as rapidly as one. (Fairies A-h! 

Sel. Two miserable men ! Why, one alone 
Will bring enough pollution in his wake, 
To taint our happy land Irom end to end ! 

Zay. Then, sister, two won't make the matter worse ! 

(All approve in ndion. 

Sel. There's truth in that. (After a pause.) The two shall come 
to us. 
We have deserved this fearful punishment ; 
Our power, I think, is limited to two ? 
' Lei. (Sighs.) Unfortunately. 

Sel. Yes — more might be done 

Had each of us a pupil to herself. (Fairies (approvingly) U-m! 

Now then to summon them. ( Goes up a Utile, stops, turns, comes 

back.) But, sisters all, 
Show no repugnance to these AM-etched men ;. 
Semember that, all odious though they be. 
They are our guests ; in common courtesy 
Subdue your natural antipathies ; 
Be very gentle with them, bear with them, 
Be kind, forbearing, tender, pitiful. 
Eeceive them with that gentle sister love, 
That forms the essence of our fairyhood ; 
Let no side-thought of their unholy lives 
Intrude itself upon your charity ; ^ 
Treat them as though they were what they will be 
When they have seen how we shall be to them. 
Y\^hat is the form ? 

Dar. Two roses newly plucked 

Should each in turn be. cast upon the earth ; 
Then, as each rose is thrown, pronounce the name 
Of him whose mortal se i typifies. 
Here are two roses plucked from yonder tree.- 

Sel. (Taking them.) Well then, fair rose, I name thee Ethais !— 
Go, send thy morta, namesake to our cloud ; ( Throws rose to earth. 
'TLs done ; conceal yourselves tilf they appear ! 



THE WICKED WOELD. 15 

The fairies conceal themselves r>. and l. ; hurried music, to which enter 
Sib Ethais and Sir Phyi.lon, hurriedly, over the edge of cloud, as if 
impelled hy some invisible and irresistible power from below. Sib 
Ethais and Sib Phyllon have their swojxls draicn. They are dressed 
as barbaric knights, and, while bearing a facial resemblance to their 
fairy counterparts, present as strong a contrast as possible in their 
costume a)i^ demeanor. 

Sir Eih. (e.g.) Why, help, help, help ! 

Sir PJiy. (L.c.) ^ The devil seize lis all ! 

"Why, Avhat strange land is this? (Looks round. J How came we 
here ? 
Sir Elh. How came we here ? Why, v/Lo can answer that 
So well as thon ? 

SirFhy: As I? 

Sir Etli. Yes,. cur ; as thou ! 

This is some devil's game of th}- design, 
To scare me from the task I set myself 
When we crossed swords. 

Sir Phy. I use no sorcerj'. 

A whirlwind bore me to this cursed spot ; 
But whence it came I. neither loiow nor care. 

Sir Eth. There— gag thy lying tongue ; it matters not, 
Or here or there we'll fight our quarrel out. 
Come call thy devils ; let tliem wait at hand 
And when I've done with thee I'll do with them. 

(Music piano — they fight. The fairies vow appear and toatch 
the combat unobserved loith great interest. 
Bar. (To Selene, j What are they doing? 

(A lunge — tableau— pause. 
Sel. It's some game of skill. 

It's very pretty. * 

Bar. Very. (Knights recover.) Oh, they've stopped. 
Phy. Come, come— on guard. " ( Fight resumed. 

Zay. Now they begin again. 

Eth. ( Sees fairies, who have gradually surrounded i}iem. J Hold! 
we are overlooked. 

(Ethais, who has turned for a mom.ent in saying this, is severely 
wounded by Phyelon. 



V< X 



16 THE WJCKED WORLD. 



Sel. You may proceed. 

We like it much. (Goes tip a I'dile. 

Bar. ( To Phy. ) You do it ver)' well — 
Begin again. 

Eth. Black curses on that thrust ! 

I am disabled. Ladies, bind my wound ; % 

And if it please you still "to see us fight, 
We'll fight for those bright ej'es and cherry lips 
Till one or both of us shall bite the dust. 

Phy. Hold ! call a truce till we return to earth- 
Here are bright eyes enough for both of us. 

Elh. I don't know that ! Well, there— till we return. 

(Shaking hands. 
But once again on earth, we will take up 
Our argument where it was broken off", 
And let thy devils whirl me where they may, 
I'll reach conclusion and corollary. (Selene comes hack c. 

Day. (Look'mg atTB.Yz.-LOJ^.) Oh, fairyhood ! 
(Starts. ) How wonderfully like our Phyllon ! 

Sel. (Looking at Ethais. ) Yes. 

And see — (starts)— hovf strangely like our Ethais. 
Thou hast a gallant carriage, gentle knight. (Sighing. 

Zay. How very, very like our Ethais. 

Eth. It's little wonder that I'm like myself ; 
Why, I am he. 

Sel. No, not our Ethais. (Sighing. 

Eth. In truth, I am the Ethais of all 
Who are as gentle and as fair as thou. 

Sel. That's bravely said ; thou hast a silver tongue ; 
Why ! Avhat can gods be like^f these be men. 

(During iltis dialogue, Darine shows hij her manner that she 
takes great interest in Ethais. 
Say, dost thou come from earth or heaven ? 

Eth. (Gallantly pxdting his arm round Selene and Darine. j I 
think I've come from earth to heaven. 

Sel. (To Darine icith delight, icho reciprocates the feeling.) Oh! 
didst thou hear ? 
He comes from earth to heaven ! No, Ethais, 
We are but fairies — this, our native home. 
Our fairy-land rests on a cloud which floats 
Hither and thither, as the breezes will ; 
At times a mighty city's at our feet. 
At times a golden plain, and then the sea, 
Dotted with ships and rocks and sunny isles. 
We see the world ; (yet saving that it is 
A very wicked world, we know it not) — 
We hold no converse with its denizens : 



THE WICKED WOF.LD. 17 



Bttt on the lauds o'er which our island hangs, 
We shed fair gifts of plent}' and of peace — 
Health — contentment— cbarity — goodwill ; 
Drop tears of love upon the thirst^'- earth, 
And shower fair waters on the growing grain. 
This is onr mission. 

(Leila, Neodie, Dakine and Locrine retire e. and l. and con- 
verse ajyirt. 

EOi. (Enraptured.) 'Tis a goodl}' one ! 
I'd give my sword — ay, and my sword-arm too, 
If thou wouldst anchor for a year or so 
O'er yonder home of mine. ( Foirds heloio to city tx.) But tell me, 

now, 
Does every cloud that liovers o'er our heads 
Bear iu its bosom such a wealth of love ? 

Sel. Alas ! Sir Ethais, we are too few 
To work the good that we could wish to work. 
Thou hast seen black and angry thunder-clouds 
That spit their evil tire at flocks and herds, 
And shake with burly laughter as they watch 
The trembling shepherds count their shriveled dead? 
These f.re our enemies, sir knight, and thine. 

They sow the seeds of pestilence and death — ( With uplifted hands. 
May heaven preserve thee from their influence ! 

Mh. Amen to that ! 

Phy. But tell me, gentle maid, 

Why have you summoned us ? 

Sel. (Smilingly.) Because we seek 

To teach you truths that now ye wot not of ; 
Because we know that you are very frail, 
Poor, blind, weak, wayward mortals— willing reeds. 
Swayed right and left by every tempting wind ; 
And we are pure, and very, very brave, 

Having no taste for trivial solaces ( Talcing Ethais' hand. 

Scorning such idle joys as we have heard 
Appeal most strongly to such men as you ; 
And we have cherished earnest hope that we, 
By the example of our sacred lives. 
May teach you to abjure such emptj' joys, 
May send you back to earth, pure, childlike men. 
To teach your mothers, sisters, and your wives, 
And those perchance (Sighing) who are to be your v/ives ! 
That there are fairy maidens in the clouds. 
Whose gentle mode of thought and mode of life 
They would do well to imitate. (Sighs.) We w'ould 
That every maid on earth were such as we ! 

(Placing her arms round his neck. 



18 THE WICKED WOELD. 

Hill. lu tnilh we would that every maicleu were, — 
(Aside.) Except our mothers, sisters, and our wives ! 

Sel. If you will be our pupils, j'ou must give 
Some tokeu of submission to our will, 
No doubt you have some form of fealty ? 

Eth. When man desires to show profound respect — 
To indicate most forcibly his own 
Inferiority, he always puts 
His arm round the respected object's waist. 
And drawing her (or him) towards him, thus. 
Places a very long and tender Idss 
On his (or lier) face -as the case may be. 

Sel. That form is not in vogue in fairy land ; 
Still, as it holds on earth, no doubt 'twill have 
Far greater weight with you poor sons of earth, 
Than any formula ?re could impose. 

Phy. Its weight is overpowering. (About to kiss Za.yda. 

Sel. ( Slopphig Vhyij.oj^.) But stay ! 

We wonld not wreat this homage from you, sir ; 

Or give it willingly, or not at all. 

E'Jt. Most willingly, fair maid, we give it yon 

Sel. Good ! Then proceed. 

(Ethais kisses SEr,EXE, and Phyllon kisses Zayda ; fairies at 
back, T„. and i.., 0-h ! Placwg their hands before their faces. 

Eih. There ! does it not convey 

A pleivsant sense of influence? 

Sel. It does. 

Some earthly forms seem rational enough. (ExnAis stagaers. 

Why Ethais, what ails thee ? 

E(h. \7by, I'm faint 

From loss of blood, j\Iy wound—here, take this scarf, 

(Faikies co?7ie doicn as before. 
And bind it round my arm— so —have a care ! 
There, that will do till I return to earth ; 

(Seeene binds Ethais' arm with his scarf. 
Then, Latin, Mho's a fairly skillful leech, 
Shall doctor it. 

Sel. ( Amazed. ) Didst thou say Lutin ? 

Elh. Yes, 

He is my squire— a poor, half-witted churl, 

Ue-enier Lutin, xindbaerved. 

Who shudders at the rustling of a leaf ; 

(Lutin comes doioi e. q/" Ethais. 
A sirange, odd, faithful, loving, timid knave ; 
T^Iore dog than man, and, like a Mell-thrashed hound, 
He loves his master s voice, and dreads it, too. 
Why, here he is ! (In intense astonishment. 



THE WICKED WORLD. 19 

Lid. Who is this iusoleut? — 

A mortal here in faiiy laud? 

Loc. Yes, two ! 

Lut. Oil, this is outrage ! 

Eih. Wh.y, thou scurv}' knave, 

How cam'st thou hero? Thon didst not come with us ! 
What is the meaning of this masquerade? (Alluding to Lutin's dress. 
Be off at once ; (j)oiniing off to the world e. j if I could use my arm, 
I'd whip tliee for this freak, but as it is 
I'll hand thee over to that wife of thine , 
Her hand is heavier than mine, f To JSel. ) This churl 
(So rumor saith) is mated to a shrew ; 
A handsome, ranting, jealous, clacking shrew ; 
And he, by means of this torn-fool disguise. 
Has 'scaped his home to play the truant here ; 

Lut. ( /Surprised, appealing io ilie Fairies. ) Who are these men ? 

8el. The mortal counterparts 

Of Ethais and Phyllon. Look at them ! ( Grosses to Lutin. 

Dost thou not love them? ( Poinlbig io iheni k. 

Lid. ( Indignantly, Xj.c.) Ko ! 

Bel. (Looks io Fairies. ) How very strange ! 

Why, ice all loved them from the very first. 

Lut. ( To Daiune and other Fairies. J Is this indeed the trutli ? 

Bar. It is indeed. 

Obedient to our queen's command, we have 
Subdued our natural antipathies. 

Zay. They are our guests, all odious though they be, 

( Takes Phyllon's Jiaiul. 
And we must bid them welcome to our home, 
As if e'en now they were what they will be 
W^hen they have seen wliat we shall be to them, (Kissing Jiis hand. 

Lut, Be warned in time, and send these mortals hence ; 
Why, don't you see that in each word they speak, 
They breathe of love? 

Sel. (Enthusiastically.) They do ! 

T^xd. Why Love's the germ 

Of every sin that stalks upon the earth : 
The brawler fights for love — the drunkard drinks 
To toast the girl who loves him, or to drown 
Remembrance of the girl who loves him not ! 
The miser hoards his gold to purchase love. 
The liar lies to gain, or wealth, or love ; 
And if for wealth, it is to purchase love. 
The very footpad nerves his coward arm 
To stealthy deeds of shame by pondering on 
The tipsy kisses of some tavern wench ! 
]^ not deceived — this love is but the seed ; 
Tne branching tree that springs from it is Hate ! 



20 THE V\^ICKED WOKLD. 



Dar. ( To EthJ Nay, heed him not. There is a legend here — 
Au idle tale— tliat man is infamous, 
And he believes it. So, indeed, did we, 
Till Ave beheld 3^ou, gallant gentlemen ! 

Lut. Why, they are raving ! Let me go at once 
And join my brothers at our monarch's court ; 
While they are here this is no place for me. 
Zay. (Eagerly to Sel.j Let him depart; then we can summon 
here 
His mortal counterpart, (Fairies delighted^- Selene expresses indig- 
nant surprise, Zayda changes her manner) a poor frail man 
No doubt, who stands in very sorest need 
Of such good counsel as we can afford. 
Sel. Thou speakest wisely. Lutin, get thee gone. 
Eth. Be ofl' at once. 

Phy. Begone, thou scurvy knave ! 

Thy wife sliall hear of this— sAe'/i punish thee. (Fairies, Oh! 0-h! 

Lut. Ob, moral plague ! oh, walking pestilence ! 
Oh, incarnation of uncleanliness ! 
You call me knave ! Why, harkye men of sin. 
You've kings and queens upon that world of yours, 
To whom you crawl in apt humility ; (Goes up. 

Well, sir, there's not an emperor on earth 
Wlio Avould not kiss the dust I tread upon, 

And I'm the meanest here. Good-day to you. (Exit Lutin, k. 

(Fairies retire conversing E. audi..; leaving the four principals 
in front of stage. 
Eth. (Following him angrily, is restrained by Selene. ) The fellow's 
crazed — beed not his rhapsodies, 
Thou dost not credit him? 

Sel. And if I do. 

What matters it ? Be all he says thou art. 
And I will Avorship thee for being so ; 
Thou art my faith — whate'er my Ethais does 
Is ever hallowed by his doing it ; 
Thy moral law is mine— for thou art mine : 
Bob, and I'll scoff at honor ; kill— i'Z^ kill ; 
Be perjured, and I'll swear by perjury ; 
Ay, be thou false to me, and I'll proclaim 
That man forsworn who loves but one alone ! 
My soul is thine— whate'er my faith may be, 
I'll be its herald ; if thou hast no faith, 
I'll be the high priest of thine unbelief ! 
Thy wisdom's mine ; thy folly's thine — ■ 

Eth. Hush! hush! 

Why, this is madness ! ^ 

Set. Yes, for this is Love ! 



THE Y/ICKED WORLD. 21 



v*^' 



-p«^i>i.o-N and Zayda embrace n 



Selene kneels at 

ExHAis'/eei 

hi front 



Tableau. 



END OF ACT I. 



ACT II. 



Scene. — Same as Act I. — Sunset, 

Daeine c, Zayba l.c, Leila e.c., Loceine e, other Fairies and 
Neodie l., discovered anxiously watching the entrance to Selene's 
bower, s.e.l. 

Dar. (c. ) Still, still Selene watches Ethais ! 
For six long hours has sh9 detained the knight 
Within the dark recesses of her bower, 
Under pretense that his unhappy wound 
Demands her unremitting watchfulness ! 
(Indignantly. ) This, fairies, is our queen !— the sinless soul 
To whose immaculate pre-eminence 
We pure and perfect maidens of the air 
Accord our voluntary reverence I 

Zay. Her conduct is an outrage on her sex ! 
Was it for this that we proposed to her 
That we should bring these mortals to our land ? 
Is this the way to teach this erring man 
The moral beauties of a spotless life ? 
To teach him truths that now he wots not of? 
Surely this knight might well have learnt on earth 
Such moral truths as she is teaching him. 



22 THE WICKED WOELD. 

Enter Selene from Lower i.. ; Darine retires tip c. 

Lei (e.g.) At last she comes! (To Selene. j We are well 
pleased to find 
That, after siicli a lengthy vigil, tliou 
Canst tear tbj'self away from Etliais ! 

Set. (c. ) Yes, dearest sister, he is calmer now. 
( To Zat. ) Oh ! this has been a fearful night for him ; 
Not for one moment have I left his side ! 

Zay. Poor Ethais ! Believe us, sister dear, 
He has our heartfelt pity. 

Sel. (Dahine listens; moves to e., ready to exit at end of speech.) 
All night long 
He tossed and raved in wild delirium ; 
Shouting for arms, and, as it seemed to me, 
Fighting his fight with Phyllou o'er agaiu, 
At length, as morning broke, he fell asleep, 
And slept in peace till half an hour ago. 
I watched him through the long and troubled night, 
Fanning the fever froin his throbbing brow, 
Till he awoke. At first he gazed on me 
In silent wonderment ; theu, suddenly 
Seizing my hand, he jDressed it to his lips, 
And swore tbat I had saved him irom the grave — 
Mark that— the grave ! I— I had saved his life ! 
He told me that he loved me — loved me M'ell ; 
That I M^is fairer than the maids of earth-- 
That I had holy angel-eyes, that rained 
A gentle pity on his stubborn heart — 
(He called it stubborn, for he knew it not) ; 
That I was fairer, in his worldly eyes, 
Than all the maids on earth or in the clouds ! 

(Darine, xcho has listened xmth intense anxiety to this speech, 
goes off silently e., but in an agony of grief . 

Zay. CL.C., spitefully.) Could auj words more eloquently show 
The recklessness of his delirium ? 

8el. (Surprised.) Nay, he was conscious then. 

Neo. ( Very kindly. ) Of course he was ! 

No doubt, Selene, thou hast gained his love. 
Be happy in it, dearest sister ; but 
In thy proud triumph, love, pray recollect 
He had not seen us ! 

Zoy. Thou hast wisely done 

To keep him from our sight. Cage thou tiiy bird. 
Or he may fly to fairer homes than thiue. 

Sel. (Amazed.) What mean you, sisters ? Nay, turn not away— . 
What have I done ? 

Loc. ( Very spitefully. ) Indeed we do not know ; 



THE WICKED WOELD. 23 

But, lest we should afiect his love for thee, 

We will at once withdraw. (Exit Locrtne, bowing ironlcalUj, r. 

LeL ( TVith freezing politeness. ) Good-day to you ! (Exits e. 

Neo. ( Cross to -R. ) Good-day! (Turns to her. ) Good-day! 

(Exit r.. 

Zay. (Cross to ■R.) Good-day! (Tarns to her. ) Remember — 
capje thy bird ! (Exit -r., followed hy others. 

Set. (Looking after them, r. ) How straugely are my sisters changed 
to me ! 
Have I done wrong? No, no, I'm sure of that. 
The knight was sorely stricken — he had died 
But for my willing care. (Looks into the Bower, l.J Oh! earthly 

love, 
Thou mighty minister of good or ill, 
Is it for good or ill that thou art here ? 
Art thou au element of happiness, 
Or an unwieldy talisman that I, 
In heedlessness, have turned against myself? 
"He had not seen Viem," — so my sister spake ; 
Yes, truly, there are fairer forms thine mine. 
He shall not see them 1 Oh ! I am unjust. 
Hath he not told me that I have his love ? 
There is no treacher}'' in those brave eyes : 
There is no "falsehood in that gallant heart ! 
But still — he had not seen them. (Ethais appears at the entrance <f 

bower — icatches and listens. ) Oh, for shame ! 
Can love and doubt reign ever side by side ? 
No, Ethais, love is the death of doubt. 
I love thee, Ethais, and doubt tbee not ! 
Still it were better that he saw but me. 

Ethais enters from bower, l. He is very pale and iceak, and his arm 
is in a sling. 

Eth. (l.c.) Selene, I am weak — give me thine hand. 

Sel. (r.c.) ]My love, thou shouldst not yet have left thy couch ! 
Come— thou hast need of rest. ( Takes Jus hand. 

Eih. (^ Disengages.) No, let me stay. 

(Sits c.) The air revives me — I am strong again. 

(Tarns to her ; draws her to seat. 
And so, thou trustest me ? 

Sel. In truth I do ! (Sits by his side. 

Although I cannot tell thee whence proceeds 
This strange, irrational belief in thee — 
Thee, whom I hardly know, 

Eth. Is that so strange ? 

I see no marvel ! 

Sel. Nvy, my love, reflect, 

■Jam a woman, and thou art a man ; 



24 THE WICKED WOKLD, 

AYell, thou art comely— so, iu truth, am I ; 
We meet and love each other— that's to sa}', 
I am jDrepared to give up all I have, 
Sly home, my very fairyhood for thee ; 
Thou to surrender riches, honor, life, 
To please the fleeting fancies of my will. 
And why ? 

Because I see in thee, or thou in me, 
Astounding virtue, brilliant intellect, 
Great self-denial, venerable years, 
Eare scholarship, or godly talent ? No ! 
Because, forsooth, we're comely specimens — 
Not of our own, but Nature's industry ! 

Eth. The face is the true index of the mind, 
A ready formula, whereby to read 
The lesson of a lifetime in a glance. 

Sel ( hi iconder. ) Then, Ethais, is perfect comeliness 
Always identified with moral \vorth? 

Eih. The comeliest man is the most viiiuous — 
That's an unfiiiling rule. 

Sel Then, Ethais, 

There is no holier man on earth than thou ! 
My sisters, Ethais, are sadly changed 
By the strange power that emanates from thee. 
They love thee as I love thee ! 

Eth. (Aside.) Do they so ! 

(Rising and moving a liltle to li. 
I'faith they shall not love their love in vain ! 

Sel. ( liising. ) I tell thee this that thou mayst shun them, lest 
By crafty scheme and subtly planned device, 
They steal thee from thy mistress unawares. 

Elh. (Laughing.) No fear of that ! (Back to !..€.) Laugh all 
their schemes to scoru. 
Treat them with the contempt such jades deserve. 
I do not seek them. 

Sel Does the miser treat 

The thief who seeks his treasure with contempt. 
Because his treasure does not seek the thief? 
No, Ethais, I'll hide my gold away ! 

Take thou this ring— it is a pledge of love (Giving him a ring. 

"Wear it until thy love fades from thy soul. 

Eth. 'Twill never fade while thou art true to me. 

Sel (Amazed. ) Are women ever false to such as thou ? 

Eth. Are women ever true ? Well, not to me. 
(Aside. ) Nor I to them ; and so we square accounts ! 

Sel Then thou hast been deceived ? 

Elh. A dozen times. 

Sel How terrible! (Shudders.. 



THE WICKED WORLD. 25 

Eih. Yes, terrible indeed ! 

( Takes hev hand.) Ab, ni}' Selene, picture to thyself 
A man— Imked lor liis life to one he loves. 
She is his world — she is the breath he breathes ; 
In his fond eyes the type of purity. 
Well, she is false — all women are — and then 
Come tidings of his shame, the damning words, 
"I love another, 1 have cheated thee." 
At first it cannot be, it is a dream ; 
And when by slow procession, step by step, 
He sees in it the waking from a dream, 
His heavy heart stands still — he dies a death, 
A momentary death — to wake again 
Into a furious life of hot revenge ; 
His hand against all men ; his maddened tongue 
Calling down curses on his cheated self ; 
On him who stole her love, on all but her 
Who has called down this crowning curse on him ! 
To find her love a lie, her kiss a jest, 
Her cherished bywords a cold mockery — 
Oh, there are words 
For other agonies, but none for this ! 

Sel. (Grosses dreamily to Ij., speaking as ij io herself . ) And thou 
hast suffered this ? 
. Elh. (Biilerly, and sighing. ) I have indeed ! 

Sel. ( Turns to him. ) And how long does this bitter anguish last ? 

Elh. Well, in a very serious case— all night ! 
Next daj' a fairer face, a nobler form, 
A purer heart, a gentler maidenhood. 
Will set him dreaming as he dreamt before 
Until the time for waking comes again ; 
And so the round of love runs through our lives ! 

S&l. But these are earthly maidens, Ethais — • 

( Embracing and moving wilh him towards l. 
My love is purer than a mortal's love. 

Elh. Thine is uo mortal love if it be pure. 

Sel (Horrified. ) Then, mortal Ethais, what love is thine? 

Elh. ( Taken aback. ) I spake of women — men ai'e otherwise. 

(Moving towards bower ; Darine appears, listening, from b. 

Sel. Jilan's love is pure, invariably ? 

Elh. ' Pure? 

Pure as thine own ! 

Sel. Poor, trusting, cheated souls ! 

(Exeunt together into bower, l, 

lie-enter Darine e. ; she has overheard the last few lines. 

Bar. She leads him willingly into her bower ! 

( Crosses to the bower and looks after them. 



26 THE WICKED WORLD. 

Oh ! I could curse the eyes that meet his eyes, 

The hand that touches his hand, and the lips 

That press his lips ! And why ? I cannot tell ! ( Cross to r. 

Some unknown fury rages in my soul, 

A mean and miserable hate of all, 

Miiei- Phyllon, unobserved, from behind cut tree. 

Who interpose between my love and me ! 
What devil doth possess me ? 

Phy. ( Touching her on the shoulder, she turns and starts. ) Jealousy! 

Bar. (R. ) Perhaps — what matters how the fiend is called ? 

Phy. (L.c.) But wherefore art thou jealous? Tell me, now, 
Have I done aught to cause this jealousy ? 

Bar. (R.C.) Thou! Dost (/lou love me ? 

Phy. Love thee? Tenderly! 

I love all pretty girls (aside) on principle. 

Bar. But is thy love an all-possessing love? 
Mad, reckless, unrestrained, infuriate, 
Holding thy heart within its iron grasp. 
And pressing passion from its very core ? 

Phy. (Surprised.) Oh, yes! 

Bar. Alas ! poor stricken, love-sick knight ! 

Phyllon, my love is such a love as thine. 

But it is not for thee ! (Phyelon's manner changed. ) Oh, nerve thy- 
self, 
I have ill tidings for thee, gentle knight ! 
I love thee not ! 

Phy. (Coldly.) Indeed? 

Bar. Is it not strange ? 

Phy. Most unaccountable. 

Dar. ( Blsappointed. ) But tell me now. 

Art thou not sorely vexed ? 

Phy. ( Quietly. ) Unspeakabl3% 

Bar. But thou'lt forgive me ? Tell me Phyllon, now. 
That I am pardoned ! 

Phy. • That, indeed, thou art. 

Bar. (Hurt.) Phyllon, hadsc thou despised ?ji?/ in-ofifered love, 
I'd not have pardoned thee I 

Phy. No — women don't. 

Bar. (Impatiently. ) But dost thou understand? I love thee not. 
I, whom thou lovest, Phyllon, love thee not — 
Nay, more, I love another— Ethais ! 
Thou hast a rival, and a favored one. 
Dost thou not hear me ? 

Phy. (Surprised.) Yes ; I'm deeply pained. 

Bar. (Belighted.) Thou art? 

Phy. Of course. What wouldst thou have me do ? 



THK "WICKED WOELD. 27 

Bar. Do ? Hurl thj'self headlong to yonder earth. 

(Points offB.., at hack. 
And end at once a life of agony ! 

Phi/. Why should I ! 

Dar. Why ? Because I love thee not ! 

Why if J loved and found my love despised, 
The iinivei-se should ring with my laments ; 
And were I mortal, Phyllon, as thou art, 
I would destroy myself ! 

Phy. ( Laughs immoderately. ) Ha ! ha ! If all 
Heartbroken lovers took that course, the world 
Would be depopulated in a week ! • ( Cross to e. 

(His laughter subsiding, he banters her. 
And so thou lovest Ethais ? 

Dar. (Enthusiastically, Ij.) I do ! 

Phy. (r.) But still (I may be wrong) it seems to me 
He's taken with Selene — 

Dar. (Furiously. ) Name her not ! 

He feigns a love he does not feel, because 
She is our queen. He dares not anger her ! 

Phy, But art thou sure of this ? 

Dar. (Bitterly. ) Oh ! am I sure ! 

Look in these eyes— they do not burn for thee ; 
Behold this form — that thou shalt never clasp — 
Gaze on these lips — thou shalt not press them, sir ! 
And tell me, now, that Ethais loves me not ! 
Oh ! had I but the power to heal his wound, 
And free him from her hated company ! 

Phy. Were Lutiu here, he would assist thy plan. 

Dar. Lutin ? 

Phy. His henchman, and a cunning leech ; 

He has a charm — a potent talisman — 
A panacea that will heal all wounds ; 
Fetcu him, and Ethais is healed again. (Moves to r. 

Dar. (Aside.) The gods have heard me ! (Aloud, suddenly.) 
Oh ; insensate knight, 
Thou counselest me how to gain his love ; 
And yet thou lovest me ? 

Phy. Oh, pardon me. 

That was ten minutes since— an age ago ! (Exit n. 

Dar. (Looks into hoicer, i..) Here comes the miserable, mincing 
jade. 
With a fair speech upon her lying lips, 
To meet the sister whom her base-born arts 
Have robbed of more than life ! Oh, hypocrite ! ( Cross to k. 

Enter Selene, from bower, l. 
Sel Darine ! 



28 THE WICKED WORLD. 

Bar. ( Changing her manner, and going io her c. ) My sister— my 
beloved one, 
Why, tboa art sad ; tbiue eyes are dim with tears ! 
Say, what hath brought thee grief? 

Sel (With great joy, -L-c.) Dariue, my own. 

Thoxi dost not shun me, then? 

Bar, ( Aside, -RC. ) Oh, hypocrite ! 

(Aloud. ) Shun thee, my own Selene ? No — not I ! 

Sel. Bless thee for that ! I feared to meet thy face, 
For all my loved companions turned from me 
With scornful jest and bitter mockery. 
Thou— thou — Darine, alone art true to me ! 

Bar. True to Selene while Selene breathes ! 
Come — tell me all thy woes. 

^e^ My Ethais— 

He whom I love so fondly — he is ill. 
And I am powerless to heal his wound. 
Darine, my love may die ! 

Bar. What can be done? 

Oh, I would give my fairyhood to save 
The man thou lovest so— my dearly loved ! 
But stay, the counterpart of Lutiu is 
At once his henchman and his cunning leech ; 

Lutiu lias left our sx)here, (plucking rose from tree) cast this to earth, 

(Giving it. 
And summon mortal Lutin to his aid. 
He hath a charm to heal thy lover's wound. 

Sel. Kind heaven reward thee for thy ready wit, 
My sister, thou hast saved both him and me ! 

My darling sister ! (Embracing her. 

Bar. (Aside. ) Oh, thou hjTpocrite ! 
Sel. Fair rose, I name thee Lutin, go to earth. 
And hither send the mortal counterpart 
Of him whose name thou hast, and may the gods 
Prosper thy mission I ( Throws the rose io the ground. ) Kiss me, 
dear Darine, (Kissing her. 

For thou hast saved my Ethais for me ! (Exit Seleke into bower. 

Bar. No, not for thee, good sister, for myself! (Exit Daeine e. 

Hurried music. Enter Moktal Lutin over edge of precipice, stagger- 
ing on the stage as if violently impelled from below. 

But (c. ) What ho ! help ! help ! ( Twirls round. ) Where am I ? 
Not on earth. 
For I remember that a friendly cloud 
Enveloped me, and whirled me through the air. 
Just as my fair, but able-bodied, wife. 
Began to lay my staff about my ears ! 



THE WICKED WOELD. 29 

Enter Neodie, Leila, Locmne, and others, k. Lockine crosses behind 

io L. 

Can tliis be death, and Las she killed me? (Sees them.) Well, 
If I he dead, and if this he the place 

In which I'm doomed to expiate my sins, 

Taking my sins all round, I'm bound to say 

It might have been considerably -worse ! 

Loc. (Approaching hbn e. , lolth great delight. ) Whj', this is Lutiu's 
mortal counterpart ! 

Neo. (R.c.) How quaint! How gloriously rugged ? 

Lei. (R. ) Yes ! 

Such character and such expression ! 

All. ( Admiring him. ) Yes! 

Lui. (L.c.) By some mistake my soul has missed its way 
And slipped into Mahomet's Paradise ! 

Neo. No, this is fairyland. See, there's the earth 
From which we summoned thee. (Points off v.., at hack. ) These 

are the clouds. 
Thou art not angry with us ? 

Lid. Angry ? No ! 

I'm very well up here ! 

Loc. Then thou shalt stay ! . 

Neo. Oh, tell me, are there many men on earth 
As fair and pleasant to the eye as thou? 

Lid. Not many, though I have met one or two 
Who run me x^retty close. 

Neo. Tell us their names. 

Lut. Well, let me see, Sir Phyllon has been thought 
A personable man ; then Ethais 
He's fairly well. 

Neo. But these are handsome men— 

We love thee for thy rugged homely face ; 
Oh, we are sated with mere comeliness. 
We have so much of that up here ! (Blses.) I lovo 
A homely face ! 

Lut. 1 quite agree with you. 

What do a dozen handsome men imply ? 
A dozen faces cast in the same mold, 
A dozen mouths all lip for lip the same. 
A dozen noses all of equal length ? 
But take twelve plain men, and the element 
Of picturesque variety steps in. 
You get at once imlooked-for hill and dale — 
Odd curves and unexpected points of light, 
Pleasant sui-prises — quaintly broken lines ; 
All very pleasant, whether seen upon 
The face of nature or the face of man. 



30 THE WICKED •WORLD. 



Enter Zayda, r. 



Log. But staj' — thou sliouldst be faint, for lack of food ! 

( Cross behind to e. 

iVeo. Nay, let me minister unto his wants ! ( Cross to r, 

Zay. ( Cross to c. ) Then go, beloved sisters, gather fruits. 
And bring them here to him. yuch frugal fare 
Will have a daintier flavor than its own 

When served by such fair hands ! (Kissing them. 

(Exeiuit LocRiNE, Neodie, Leila, ajid others, k. 

Zay. C Suddenly, c. ) We are alone! 

Oue word of caution — shun my sisters all ! 

Lut. (Pointing r. ) Are all those lovely girls your sisters ? 

Zay. Yes ; 

Eejoice that they are not thine own. 

Lxd. (L.c. ) I do. 

I very much prefer them as they are ! (Sits and yawns. 

You're a fine family. 

Zay. Fair to the eye ; 

But take good heed — the}' are not what they seem ! 
Locrine, the fair, the beautiful Locrine, 
Is the embodiment of avarice ! 
Slie seeks your gold. 

Lut. I'm much obliged to her ; 

I'll give her half she finds and thank her too ! (Stretches his arms. 

Zay. Darine is vain beyond comparison ; 
Neodie is much older than she looks ; 
Camilla hath defective intellect ; 
Ena's a bitter shrew ; Colombe's a thief ; 
And, last and worst of all — I blush to own. 
Our queen Selene hath a tongue that stabs — 
A traitor-tongue, that serves no better end 
Than wag a woman's character away ! 

Lut. I've stumbled into pretty company ! 
It seems you fairies have your faults ! (Reclines on seat. 

Zay. Alas ! 

All but myself. 3fy soul is in my face ; 
I — only I — am what I seem to be ; 
I — only I- am worthy to be loved ; 
( Confidentially. ) If thou wilt love me I will dower thee 
With wealth untold, long years and happy life. 
Thou gallant churl— thou highly polished boor — 
Thou pleasant luiave — thou strange epitome 
Of all that's rugged, quaint and picturesque ; 

Lut. You don't take long in coming to the point. 

Zay. Forgive my clumsy and ill chosen words ; 
We gentle, simple fairies never loved 
Until to-day. 



THE WICKED WOELD, 31 

Lut. And -svhen you do begin, 

You fairies make up for the time you've lost ! 

LocEiNE, Negdit!:, Jjtlilx and ihe Fairies enter n. , loiih fruit. He sits 
up. They group about him. 

iVeo. (L. c. ) Hast thou a wife ? 

Lut. (c.) Well yes, — that is — down there — 

(Points off and down e. 
Up here I am a bachelor— as yet. 

Zatj. ( Offended, It.. c. ) As yet ! Be good enough to recollect 
That we are good, and pure, and maidenly — • 
So prithee guard that errant tongue of thine. 

Zoc. (r. ) And does she love thee ? (Leha x. 

Lut Humph — we do fall out — 

"We did to-day. 

JS'eo. And how came that about? ( All anxious to Icnoic. 

Lut. Why thus — to tell the truth — between ourselves — 
There was a lady in the case. 

Zay. C Apart, much shocked. ) Hush — hush — • 
Confine thyself to matters that relate 
To thine own sex. Thy master, Ethais — 
He fought with Phyllon — what was that about? 

Lxit. Oh, it's the old, old story ! 

Log. Tell it. 

Lxd. V^ell, 

There was a lady in the case ! 

Zay. Then, stop — 

Go on to something else — Where wast thou born? 

Lut. Whj', in Bulgaria — some years ago — 
( Whispering.) There was a lady in that case ! 

Zay. (Severely.) It seems 

There is a lady, sir, in every case. 

Lut. In all these cases they do interfere ! 

.Enter Daeine, unobserved, e. She remains a Utile at back. 

Loc. And, Lutin, is thy mfe as fair as thou ? 

Lut. I thought her pretty till I looked on thee. 

2^y. Her hair ? 

Lut. Is bright — but not as bright as thine. 

Loc. Her figure ? 

Lrit. Neat and graceful of its kiud, 

But lacks thy pleasant plumpness. Then, besides, 
ghe has a long loud tongue, and uses it — 
A. stout and heavy hand — and uses that ; 
j^nd large expressive eyes — and uses them ! 

Zay. And does she know that thou art here with us ? 

Lut. No — that's the joke ! No— that's the best of it ! 



32 THE WICKED WOBLD. 

The gods forbid she ever should kuow that ! 
She i.s so plaguey jealous ! 

Loc. Is she so ? 

How is the lady called ? 

Lut. Her name's Dariue. 

Bar. ( Coming forward, l.c. j So I have found thee, Lutin. 
Lu'. (Aghast, c.) Can it be? 

My wife ! 

Zay. (R.c.) Thy wife? This is Dariue ! 
Lilt. I loiow ! 

( They detain him. ) Be quiet— don't — oblige me— let me go ! 
( To Dakine. ) Do not suppose, my love, that these bold girls 
Are friends of mine. 
Dar. ( To Lutin. ) Come, I would speak with thee — 
Lut. Allow me to explain. 
Dar. Attend to me. 

Say, dost thou love thy master, Ethais ? 
Lid. My master? Yes, most surely ! 
Dar. (Earnestly.) So do I ! 

Madly, unreasonably, recklessly. (Luttn much taken aback. 

Love him with all the passion of a heart 
That love has never kindled till to-day ! 
Thou, only thou, canst help me, noble sir. 
The gods, the gods have sent thee to my aid ! 

Lid. Have they ? In doing so the gods have not 
Displayed their usual talent for intrigue. 
0, thou abandoned woman ! 

Dar. Hear me, sir ! 

M.y Ethais is wounded in the arm, 
Thou hast a remed}- of wondrous power, 
A charmed remedy. Give it to me, 
That I may Avork his cure. 

Lut. Upon my soul. 

Cure him for tliee ! This is a cool request ! 
Dar. But why not heal thy master's wound ? 
Lut. Bec&use, 

Under the circumstances, I prefer 
My master wounded to my master well, 
For when he's well, he's very well indeed ! 
(Aside. ) But stay — here is an essence that will drown 
His soi;l in sleep till I awaken him. ( Taking bottle from pocket. 

Shall I ? I will ! He'll be much safer so ! 
(Aloud.) There, take the charm, and heal thy Ethais ! 
Dar. A thousand thanks ! Now he indeed is mine 1 ( Cross to l. 
Lid. Oh ! this is inconceivable ! Come here, (Fairies advance b. 
D'ye see these maidens, madam? Hitherto 
Thou hast been jealous, but without good cause ; 
But now I'll give thee cause for jealousy ; 



THE WICKED WORLD. 33 

I'll pass my time with tliem -d'ye hear ? with them — 
They're very pleasant, unaffected girls ; 
I like them very much, and they like me— 
I'll play the very devil with their hearts. 
And let them play the very deuce with mine ! 

Dar. (L. ) Do so ; I'll not detain thee from thy loves — 
See how impatiently they wait for thee ; 
Go — while the happy hours away with them. 

Lut. (c.) Is this tby jealous}', abandoned girl ? ( Fairies b.. 

Dar. C Surprised. ) Jealous of thee? Good sir, I love thee not ! 

Lut. You don't ! 

Dar. No, no — I love Sir Etbais ; 

And when I've healed his Avound, sheer gratitude 
Will wake his soul to love ! 

Lut. If he drinks that 

Sheer gratitude won't wake him. After all 

(Looking at Fairies it,, loho are endeavoring to persuade him to 
accompany ihem. 
Six pretty Zaydas to one Etbais — 
He fast asleep, and they all wide awake, 
Egad, I've six to one the best of that ! (Kteunt Lutin and Fairies, n. 

Dar. He comes ! At last I shall behold my love ! 

Fnter Ethak, from lowers l. 

( Tenderly. ) How fares Sir Ethais ? 

Mh. (L.c.) Why grievously. 

I am no leech, and cannot dress my wound, 
I'm sick and faint from pain and loss of blood. 

Dar. (-R-c, aside. ) How shall I work my end ? I have a plan ! 
Oh, powers of impudence defend me now ! 
(Aloud. ) Sir Ethais, if Phyllon's words be true, 
Thy wound is but a scratch. 

Eth. A scratch, forsooth ! 

The devil's nails could hardly scratch so deep. 

Dar. He says— I don't believe him — but he says 
That thou hast magnified its character, 
Because thou fearest to renew the fight. 
He says thou art a coward ! 

Eth. (Furiously.) By my blood. 

He shall atone for that ! Did he say this 
To thee? 

Dar. Ay, sir, to me — a minute since. 

Eth. Oh, Phyllon ! Coward ? Why, a dozen times 
AVe two have fought|Our battles side by side. 
And I'm to quail and blanch, forsooth, because 
We two, at last, are fighting face to face ? 
Oh, curses on the wound ! Were Lutin here, 
My sword-arm boou would be iu gear again. 



34 THE WICKED WOBLD, 

Dar. Lutiu is here. 

Elh. (Amazed.) Here? Lutiu? 

Dar. Yes. Behold! ( Shows flask. 

I have obtaiued this precious charm from him. 
Now, kuight, to prove thy mettle! 

Elk. (Furiously.) Give it me— 

Give me the flask ! 

D'lr. One moment, Ethais. 

This flask is precious, and it hath a price. 

JWi. Name thou thy price, aud I will give it thee. 
Take money, jewels, armor, all I have, 
So that thou leavest me one trusty sword ! 

Dar. No, EtLais, I do not want thy wealth, 
I want thy love — yes, Ethais, thj' love ; 
That priceless love that thou hast lavished on 
My worthless sister. 

Mh. On Selene ? 

Dar. Yes, 

Thou lovest her— and dost thou think that I 
Will save thy life for her ? 

Eth. Serene? Bah! 

True, she is fair. AVell, thou art also fair. 
"What does it matter— her fair face or thine ? 
What matters either face— or hers or thine — 
When weighed against this outrage on my fame? 

Dar. Give me this ring, and thou shalt have the charm. 

Eth. 'Tis thine. ( Gives the ring to Darine. ) And now, Sir Phyl- 
Ion, take good heed ! (Retire up c. 

Enter Selene, f7-om bower, l. 

Sel (L.c.) Darine! Thou here, alone with Ethais ! 
No, no. I will not doubt — 

Dar. (E.G.) Doubt whom thou wilt ! 

Thou hypocrite ! thou shameless hypocrite ! 
Thou wretched victim of thine own designs. 

Sel. Darine, what dost thou mean ? 

Be-eiiter all the Fairies, e. 

Dar, Doubt all of vs, 

For Ave are false to thee as thou to us. 
I am as thou hast made me, hypocrite ! 

Sel. Thou art to me as thou hast ever been. 
Most dearly loved of all these dearly loved. 

Dar. Away ! (Cross to l, ; Thou art the source of all our ill ; 
For though we counseled thee to do the deed 
That brought this blight upon our innocence, 
'Twas but a test, and thou hast bent to it ! 



THE WICKED WORLD. 35 

Zay. (r.c.) Ob, miserable ^Yonlan, get tbee bence ! 
Tbou art uo queeu of ours I 

Log. (r.) Away witb ber ! 

Down witli tbe traitress queeu ! 

(Selene turns from one to another — all turn away from her. 

Sel So let it be. 

Yes. tbou bast rigbtly said— I bad a trust. 
I bave forsaken it. Tbrougb my default, 
Tbe taint of eartb bas fallen on our land. 
Mine was tbe sin — be mine tbe punisbment. 
Well-loved Darine, take tbou tbis diadem : 

Wear it more wortbily tban I. (Places her coronet on Darine. ; Bebold 
How royally it rests upon ber brow ! 

"^ly gentle sisteibood, bebold your queen ! (Fairies how. 

Let ber fair face and form untainted yet 
By tbe iniquity of my default, 
Recall tbe loved Darine of j'esterday — 
Tbe gentle, loving, maidenly Darine — 
Wbo would bave been tbat loved Darine to-da}', 
But for my erriug deed. Ob, sbame on me ! 
Tbou art as I bave made tbee. Wbo am I 
Tbat I sbould judge my sister? I am loved ; 
But bad I lost tbat love, sbould I bave borne 
]\Iy loss more patiently tban tbou ? Alas ! 
Tbou, I, and all, are now as mortals are. (Ethais comes down r.c. 

Dar. So may I fall if I forsake my trust. 
Tby punisbment is just. Tbou wast a queen — 
Wbat art tbou now V 

Sel. I bave a kingdom yet ! 

I bave a kingdom bere — in Etbais' beart. 
A kingdom ? Nay, a world — my world — my world ! 
A world wbere all is pure, and good, and brave ; 
A world of noble tbougbt and noble deed ; 
A world of brave and gentle cbivahy ; 
A very goodly and rigbt gallant world ; — 
Tbis is my kingdom — for I am its queen ! (Embrace Ethais. 

Dar. Tbou art no queen of bis, for be is mine. 
Aye, by tbe token tbat tbou gavest bim, (Shoics ring, 

Tbou fond and foolisb maiden ! 

Sel. (Looking at it. J No, no, no ! 

It is a counteifeit— no, no, Darine ! 
Tbe punisbments of Heaven are merciful. 

(Takes Ethais' hand to kiss it; she sees that the ring is not there. 

Ob, Etbais ! 
Is tbat tbe ring witb wbicb I pligbted tbee? 

Eih. (R.c.) A}', tbat's tbe bauble. I b?.ve naugbt to say,' 

Sel. <" To Darine.; It fell from him— wbere didst thou find it, 
speak? 



r 



36 THE WICKED WOULD. 

Eth. I Bold it for a charm that I might have 

An arm to flog a lyiug cur withal ; 

A traitor devil, whose false breath had blurred 

My knightly honor, dearer to my heart 

Than any love of woman — hers or thine ! 

I had no choice — my honor was at stake. 

Sel. Thine honor ! Thou dost well to speak of that. 

Can devils take the face and form of gods ? 

Are truth and treachery so near akin 

That one can wear the other's countenance ? 

Are all men sucli as thou ? Or art thou not 

Of thine accursed race the most accursed ? 

Whj', honorable sir, thou art a knight 

That wars with womankind ! Thy panoplj' 

A goodly form, smooth tongue, and fair false face. 

Thy shield a lie ; thy weapon an embrace ; 

The emblem of th}' slvill a broken heart ! 

Thine is a gallant calling, Ethais — 

Thou manly knight — thou soul of chivahy — 

Thou most discreet and prudent warrior ! 

(He approaches her.) Away, and touch mo not ! My nature's gone. 

May Heaven rain down her fury on thy soul ! 
]\Iay every fiber in that perjured heart 
Quiver Avith love for one who loves thee not ! 
^lay thine uutrammeled soul at last be caught, 
And fixed and chained and riveted to one 
Who, with the love of heaven upon her lips. 
Carries the hate of hell within her heart ! 

(Ethais appeals to her in dumb show. 
Thou phantom of the truth — tliou mimic god — 
Thou traitor to thine own unhappy soul — 
Thou base apostate to the lovely faith, 
That thou hast preached with such false eloquence, 
I am thine enemy. (Ethais turns up stage dejectedly. To her sisters. ) 

Look on your work, 
My gentle sisters. ( They look in horror. ) Are ye not content ? 
Behold ! I am a devil, like yourselves ! 

Sir Ethais, up stage. 
F^'iries. -r -eila. Selene. 



^. 






END OF ACT H. 



THE WICKED WOULD. 37 



ACT III, 



Scene. — Same as Ads I. and 11. — MoonligliU 

LuTiN discovered s'lUing c, hi deep dejedion. Zayda is at his feet iry- 
inrj to arouse lihn. Ethais is lying insensible on a bank at entrance 
to bower l., covered loitJi a ynantle. 

Zay. (R.c.) Come, Lutin, speak to me— for hours in vaiu 
I've sought to wean thee from thine inner self ; 
I've sung in vain to thee— thou wilt not slug — 

Lid. (c. ) I cannot sing. 

Zay. Or dance ? 

Ltd. I do not dance. 

Zay. Then let us float on yonder silver stream 

( They rise and come down. 
Or plunge headlong into its niossj' depths, 
And wander, hand in hand, from grot to grot ; 
Or, if thou wilt, I'll whirl thee through the air, _ 
And light with thee on yon tall pinnacle. 
Come, Lutin— take my hand, and Ave'll away ! 

Lut. Don't be ridiculous ! ( Turns away.) I do not fly ! 
You're very good — j'ou mean it well, I know — 
But I've no taste for such alarmiug joys. 
I can't help thinking of my lost Darine, 
She was so much too good for me, and now 
Jam so much too good for her ! 

Zay. Alas ! 

Dost thou love her ? 

Lid. I can't help loving her. 

Zay. Dismiss the worthless creature from tby thoughts. 
I linow her well^ — she don't deserve thy love ! 
She always was a very wicked girl. 

Lut. Wicked ? The best of women ! 

Zay. (Maliciously. ) So she seemed. 

Lut. She had her faults, I know. 

Zay. She hath a soul 

In which hj'pocrisy, intemperance, 
Hate, envy, vanity, untruthfulness 
Eun riot at their will ! 

Lut. (Astonished. ) You don't say so ? 
I'd no idea of this — ( Weeping. 

Zay. As for her crimes — 

Lut. Tell me the worse at once ! 

Zay. The worst ? No, that 

Would be too cruel— but— bigamy's the best ! 



38 THE WICKED •WORLD. 

Lut. What! BigamjM Has slie fioo liusbauds, then? 

Zay. Two ? Half-a-dozeu ! 

Lut. What ! 

Zay. Why even now 

She seeks to add a seventh to her list ! 
SirEthais— ? 

LuL Ah, there I've thwarted her. 

Enter Daeine, e., loho crosses behind to Ethais l. She overhears what 

follows. 
T have a potion that will heal his wounds ; 
She begged it of me, but I cheated her, 
And put into her hands a sleeping draught. 
V,y this time he's as helpless as the dead, 
And she maj' shout until she wakes the dead, 
Before she wakes him ! 

(Daeine come.9/o7'joa?-(?. i?xi7- Zaxda e. , m terror. 

Bar. (Down i..c. ^ Why, thou envious churl — 
Thou wanton trifler with the purest fire 
That ever burnt in love -sick woman's breast, 
Why hast thoU'done this thing? 

• (As Daeine advances, Lutin retreats into k. corner. 

Lut. (Aside, ) She does not quail 

Beneath her injured Lutin's outraged eye, 

(Daeine goes up to Ethais at l. bower. 
But calmly asks him why he's doue this thing ! 

Bar. (Tarns to Lutin, tx J Say, is he dead? Come — answer 
quickly ! 

Lut. (E.) Well, 

He's dead to all intents and purposes. 

Bar. How has he injured thee? 

Lut. He hasn't as yet ; 

(Aside. J And I'll take care he don't ! 

Bar. Oh, misery! 

In half-an-hour my brothers will be here ; 
In half-an-hour he must retui-n to earth I 

(Referring to Ethais and going to liim l. 
Awake, insensate knight — arouse thee, dolt ! 
I — I, Darine, am waiting here for thee. 
Dost thou not hear me? Ethais, awake ! 

Lut. Oh— shout away ! 

Bar, I will be revenged ! 

( To Lutin. ) 1 know not why thou wages bitter war 
Against my unoffending happiness : 
But I will thwart thy schemes. Sir Phyllon comes ! 

Enter Sie Phyllon, e. 
Come hither, Phyllon— come to me, fair knight ! 

(Phtllon crosses to c. 



THE WICKED WORLD. 39 



Say, dost thou love me still? 

Phy, Indeed I do ! 

Bar. ( To Littin. ) Thou hearest him — he loves me \ 
(ToVbyia..) Tenderly? 

Phy. (it.c.) Most tenderly ! (Mnhracing her. 

Bar. (L.c.) He loves most tenderly ! 
He is awake ! 

Lut. (k. ) Yes, much too wide awake ! 
Disreputable woman, let him be ! 
Unhand this lady ! 

Bar. Why, thou selfish knave, 

May I love nobody on earth but thee ? ( Cross to Lutin, k. 

Lut. Of course you may not ! 

Bar. (K.c.) Go, sir, get thee gone ? 
There are fair maids enough awaiting thee ; 
I do not interfere 'twixt thee and them. 

Lut. Well no, to do you justice, you do not ! 
I do not want them. I'm a married man ! 
What married man cares twopence for intrigues 
At which his wife connives? 

Phy. (c.) . Is this thy wife ? 

Lut. I blush to say she is ! 

Bar. (Amazed.) I am thy wife ! 

Oh, monstrous ! Stay, there has been some mistake. 
Some dreadful error ! See, I've found a clew ! 
No doubt I am her fairy prototype. 
In face resembling her, but that is all. 

Lut. Then thou art not my wife ? 

Bar. Not I, indeed ! (Lutin Jcisses her. 

1 am a fairy. Be thou reassured ; 

Thy wife is on the earth — (kisses her again)— Give me the charm 
To cure my Ethais, and sit thee down, (Re gives it to her. 

And I will send for Zayda and Locrine, 

And thou shalt talk of love to both of them. ( Cross to Ethais at bower. 
■ Lut. Well no— upon the whole— I'd rather not. 

(Darine admbiisters the potion to Ethais, icho gradually revives 
as Lutin nears the iermininaiion of the following speech. 
I have reformed, Darine, and had I not, 
I don't think I could talk to them of love 
With all the eloquence the theme deserves. 
In the distracting company of one. 
Who, if she's not in point of ftict my wife, 
Is so uncomfortably like my wife, 
That she may be my wife for aughc I know ; 
And more than that, I can't stand tamely by 
And notice with uninterested gaze 
A lady, who's so very like my wife, 



40 THE WICKED WORLD, 

Hanging on everybody's neck but mine. 

t)on't send for Zayda— I'm a married man ! (Ecit n, 

Daf. (L.c.) He wakes! He lives— my own, ou-n Ethais ! 

Elk. fL., awaking.) Wbj'— where am I? Have I then been asleep? 

Bar. Indeed thou bast ! See, thou must soon return 
To yonder eQ.xi\i— (Points Mow eJ— I've much to say to thee. 

Eih. But bow came I to sleep ? I recollect ! (Looks around. 

Tbou gavest me a potion, and I — (Sees Phyllon. j— Ha ! 

(Flies at his Ihroat. 
(c, ) So I'm a cur, Sir Liar, and my wound 
Is but a scratch which I have magnified 
That I might shun the terrors of thy sword ! 

Fhy. (E.G.) Hands off, thou drunken madman ! Set me free. 
J never said these things ! 

Eih. Thou craven cur, 

Dost thou then fear to reap before my face 
The crop that thou hast sown behind my back ? 
Thy life shall pay for this ! 

Pliy. (Contemptuously.) I am not wont ,,- 

To weigh the words I speak to such as thou. 
No need to taint thine honor with a lie. 
Why, Ethais, the truth is black enough ; 
I know thee as a brawling tavern bully, 
A hollow friend — a cruel unsparing foe — 
A reckless perjurer — a reprobate — 

The curse of woman and the scourge of man ! (Shaking him off. 

Is not the truth enough, that I should grudge 
The one brute-virtue of thy satyr-soul — 
The instinct courage of a hungry dog ! 

Eth. ( With suppressed fury.) I'll place these charges to the long 
account 
That I've to settle when we go below ! 
( To Dae. ) Didst thou not tell me he had said these things ? 

Dar. (L. ) I did, indeed ! 

Phy. ( Cross to c. ) And by what warrant, pray ? 

Dar. ( lakes FHYiLom's hand.) It was an artifice to gain thy love. 
( To Ethais. ) Has man monopoly of lover's lies ? 
Forgive me, Phyllon — 

Phy. Bah ? Kelease my hand. 

Thou shameless woman — (Shakes her off and c7'oss to b. J — I have done 
with thee. (Exit Phtllon, e. 

Dar. (L. ) Oh ! Ethais, be not enraged with me — 
Think of my love — ( Takes his hand. 

Elh. (n., shakes hand.) The devil take thy love— 
I'll none of it ! Begone ! See, (looks off l. , cross to l. ) hither comes 
The woman that thy bitter lie hath wronged. 
Hast thou the heart to stand before her? 

Dar. No ! (Exit n. 



THE WICKED WOELD. 41 



JEJnfe?- Selene, /rojH Z>Ofce?-, l. 

Sel (L.c.) Tliou here ? and with Darine ! 

Elh. (R.c.) Stay, hear me out ' 

It's true I've trifled with th)' love, but then 
Thy love is not as mortal woman's love. 
I did not know that it would move thee thus? 

Sel. Thou didst not know ! 
Art thou so dull that thou canst understand 
No pain that is not wreaked upon fJiy frame? ^ 
Hast thou no knowledge of the form of Avoe 
That comes of cheated hopes and trampled hearts? 
To find Uiy love a lie, thy kiss a jest. 
The bywords of thy love' a mockery ? 
Oh, there are words 
Tor other agonies, but none for this ! 

UiJi. Nay, hear me ! I have wronged thee bitterly— 
I will atone for all ! 

Sel. Thou shalt atone ; 

I'll be the curse of thy remaining years ! 
Harkye, Sir Knight, I'll yield my fairyhood 
That I may go to yonder earth and join 
The whispering sisterhood of hidden hate. 
The busy band who bear within their lii^s 
The deadliest weapon of earth's armory : 
A blighting tongue— a woman's blighting tongue ! 
I will so deftly wield this talisman 
To twist and turn and torture good to ill, 
That were it in thee to amend thy ways, 
Turn anchorite, and yield to holy deeds 
Of i3eace and prayer, goodwill and charity. 
Thy holiness should seem an infamy, 
Thy peace a war, thy charity a theft. 
Thy calm a fury, and thy prayer a curse ! 

Eth. Stay thine unholy tongue — go thou to earth, 
And learn that that which thou hast undergone — 
All women undergo. 

Sel Am I as they ? 

I am immortal. Can a few brief years 
Of bitter shame and bitter sorrow weigh 
Against an immortality of woe ? 
A mortal's love is framed to last a life. 
But my love to outlive eternity. 
Blind mortal, as Eternity to Time — 
So is my wrong to theirs ! 

Enter Loceine and Neodie, from r. 

Loc. (e.g.) Selene, see, 



42 THE WICKED WOKLD. 

Through the far distant air, with rapid flight, 
Our absent brothers wing their way to us ; 

Miiei' Zayda and Lutin, e. 

These mortals must return to their own earth ! 

Lxit. (K.) Now bj' my head, but this is welcome news ! 

Zay, (n., horrified.) Beturn to earth ? No, Lutin ; no, not yet. 
Life without Lutin ! what can that be worth ? 

Lut. I cannot tell you for I never tried. 

JEnter Dabine and Phyllon, struggling, at hack. 

Nay, seek not to detain me ; I have had 
Enough of fairy love — I seek my wife. 

Phy. (c.) Come, Ethais ; to earth, to earth again ! 
Dar. (c, releasing him.) Ay, go, aud take thy fellowman with 
thee. (Lutin and Phyllon descend c. 

We want but this to crown our misery ! 

(Ethais, ahoxd to follow him, is detaiiied hy Selene. 
Set. (Suddenly. ) No ! no ! Thou shalt not go, thou shalt not go ! 
My hope — my shattered hope ; but still, my hope ! 
My love — my blighted love ; but still, my love ! 
My life— my ruined life ; but still, my life ! 
Forgive me, Ethais : thou hast withdrawn 
The very core and substance of thy love. 
No matter ! give me but the empty husk, 
And it will stay the famine of my heart. 
I'll work and toil for thee — I'll be thy slave. 
Thine humble, silent, and submissive slave ; 
I'll come but at thy beck— I will not speak, 

But at thy word — my Ethais ! my love ! ( They struggle to c. 

( Fuj-iously. ) Na3% but I'll hold thee back ! I have the strength 
Of fifty women ! See, thou canst not go ! ( With passionate triumph. 
Nay, but I'll icrest thy love away from thee, 
And fetter it in bondage to mj'' heart. 
I will be one with thee ; I'll cling to thee, 
And thou shalt take me to that world of thine. 

Eth. Take thee to earth ? I love the earth too well 
To curse it with another termagent. 
AVe have enough of them ! Belease me, fool ! 
Man hath no appetite for proffered love ! 
Away from me, I go to that good world 
Where women are not devils till they die ! 

(Throws off Selene, who falls senseless c. He leaps through 
cloud c. a7id descends. As Ethais disappears, the fairies, who 
have grouped themselves ahoxd the stage in attitudes of despair, 
gradxially seem to wake as from a dx-eam. 
Sel. (c. ) Where am I ? Zayda ! Neodie ! Darine ! 
Oh, sisters, I am waking from a dream — 



THE WICKED -WORLD. 43 

A fearful dream— a dream of evil thonghts, 
Of mortal passion and of mortal hate, 
I thought that Ethais and Phyllon too 
Had gone to mid-earth — 

Zay^ (R.c.) Nay, it was no dream, 

A sad and sorrowful reality ! 

Yes, we have suffered much — but, Heaven be praise:l, 
These mortal souls have gone to their own earth, 
And taken with them the bad influence 
That spread like an iufection through our ranks. 
See ! we are as we were ! (Embracing her c. 

Sel. Darine ! Darine ! 

My well-beloved sister — speak to me ! 

Dar. I dare not speak to thee — I have no words — 
I am ashamed. 

Sel. Oh, sister, let that shame 

Sit heavily on all— for all have sinned. 
Oh, let us lay this lesson to our hearts ; 
Let us achieve our work with humbled souls, 
Free from the folly of self-righteousness. 
Behold, is there so wide a gulf between 
The humbled wretch who, being tempted, falls, 
And that good man who rears an honored head 
Because teioptation hath not come to him ? 
Shall we, from our enforced security. 
Deal mercilessly with poor mortal man, 
Who struggles, single-handed, to defend 
The demon-leaguered fortress of his soul ? 
Shall we not rather (seeing how we fell) 
Give double honor to the champion, who 
Throughout his mortal peril, holds his own, 
E'en though 

His walls be somewhat battered in the fight? 
Oh let us lay this lesson to our hearts ! 

Enter Lutin, from openiug in clomh and rocks at hack, followed by 
Ethais and Phyllon, as fairies. 

Lid. Your brothers have returned. ( Crosses to b. corner. 

Sel. {c. , embracing 'Eth.ms.) My Ethais I 

Elh. (L.c.) Selene— sisters all — rejoice with us, 
We bear the promise of a priceless gift, 

A source of new and endless happiness ! (All eager to know. 

Take every radient blessing that adorua 
Our happy land, and all will pale before 
The luster of this precious privilege. 
It is — that we may love as mortals love ! 

Sel. (Eagerly. ) No, no— not that — no Ethais — not that ! 
It is a deadly Bnare— beware of it ! 



^^ THE ■WICKED WOELD. 

Such love is for mankind, and not for us ; 
It is the very essence of the earth, 
A mortal emblem, bringing in its train 
The direst passions of its antitype. 
No, Ethais— we will not have this love ; 
Let us glide through our immortality 
Upon the placid lake of sister-love, 
Nor tempt the angry billows of a sea, 
Which, though it carry us to unknown lands, 
Is so beset with rocks and hidden shoals, 
That we may perish ere our vessel reach 
The unsafe haven of its distant shore. 
No, Ethais— we will not have this love ! 



Disposition of the Character^. 



. pH-sLLON. Selene. Etsat^ 

1^'^ C. ■'f l>4y.^ 



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47 No Cure, No Pay. 

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49 Hamlet the Dainty. 

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62 Turkeys iu Season. 

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64 A Night wid Brudder Bones. 

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68 Cooney in de Hollow. 
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93 Possum Fat. 

94 Dat Same Old Coon. 

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101 De Trail ob Blood. 

102 De Debbil and de Maiden. 

103 De Cream ob Tenors. 

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106 A Manager in a Fix. 

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